(Infographics courtesy of QCPD)
MANILA – Camp Karingal, the headquarters of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), has been named as the first "green camp" of the police force.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, QCPD director Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan said the "Project Green Camp Karingal" is in line with the national and local government's environmental conservation and protection initiatives.
“Aside from supporting the advocacy of environmental advocacy of our mayor (Joy Belmonte), it also supports the project of the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government), the HAPAG (Halina't Magtanim ng Prutas at Gulay). We believe that this would be sustainable and would be pursued by our police officers)," he said on the sidelines of the project's launch.
Under the project, police officers would be given a "green time" from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday to take care of their crops and harvest them.
He said "green cops" would be deployed to oversee greening programs not only in Camp Karingal but in all 16 police stations around the city.
“Yung mga green cops ay particularly sila yung titingin dito sa ating project and isa sa magiging trabaho nila ay yung enforcement ng environmental laws dito sa loob ng kampo at maging sa labas. Mag eexpand kami ng aming functions (The green cops will particularly look after our project and one of their jobs is the enforcement of environmental laws here inside the camp and even outside. We are expanding our functions),” he added.
Maranan said they will minimize usage of bottled water to reduce plastic waste, and instead use water dispensers and paper cups.
He said they would also store rainwater for flushing toilets, watering plants and cleaning their stations as part of conservation measures amid the El Niño phenomenon.
“Sana naman huwag tayo dumating sa ganun but we are anticipating and expecting for the worst ay meron tayong lalagyan na kung saan masisinop natin at matitipid natin yung paggamit (I hope we don't come to that but we are anticipating and expecting for the worst, we have a container where we can store water and use it wisely),” Maranan added.
For her part, Belmonte lauded the QCPD for becoming the first police green camp in the country.
“Actually nagulat ako kasi I did not expect this to be elaborate, this beautiful, this extensive. Akala ko ang gagawin nila konting pag ban lang ng plastic use o kaya konting tanim lang pero lahat ng mga sinasabi nating best practices na may kinalaman sa pag-aalaga ng kalikasan, pag combat sa climate change, pagbabalik ng biodiversity at pag-aalis ng waste pollution ginawa nila dito (I was actually surprised because I did not expect this to be elaborate, this beautiful, this extensive. I thought what they would just do is ban plastic use or plant a little, but all the best practices we say have to do with taking care of nature, fighting climate change, restoring biodiversity and eliminating waste),” Belmonte told reporters. (PNA)
